BOI targets food, drug production with new EIB facilities

By Onu Okorie

The Bank of Industry (BOI) is deploying new European Investment Bank (EIB) financing facilities to agriculture and local healthcare manufacturing as part of efforts to reduce Nigeria’s dependence on imported food and medicines.
Managing Director of BOI, Dr. Olasupo Olusi, disclosed this during an interactive session with journalists in Lagos, explaining that the initiative would support domestic production while strengthening the country’s industrial base.
Olusi said the bank was also working with the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment on the National Industrial Finance Compact to attract more long-term capital into the industrial sector.
The move, he said, reflects the bank’s broader strategy of providing Nigerian businesses with the patient and affordable financing needed to expand production, create jobs and improve the country’s economic competitiveness.
“We will deploy our new European Investment Bank facilities into agriculture and local healthcare manufacturing, so that Nigeria produces more of the food and medicines it consumes,” he said.
The BOI managing director’s remarks come as the development finance institution records its highest-ever annual disbursement, signalling an expansion of its financing activities across manufacturing, agriculture, infrastructure and small businesses.
According to him, the bank disbursed ₦644.9 billion in 2025, representing a 26 per cent increase from the ₦510.9 billion recorded in 2024.
The financing reached 12,501 businesses and created or supported 1.68 million jobs, while women-owned enterprises received ₦120.9 billion.
Olusi said the performance demonstrated progress in implementing the bank’s 2025–2027 Corporate Strategy, which seeks to expand access to finance and promote sustainable and inclusive industrial development.
“We are now at the midpoint of our 2025–2027 Corporate Strategy, and this is a good moment to take stock. The results so far tell us our strategy is working,” he said.
The bank’s strategy places particular emphasis on micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), women-owned businesses, youth-led enterprises, infrastructure, climate sustainability and the digital economy.
In 2025, MSMEs accounted for 41 per cent of the bank’s funding, exceeding its 35 per cent target. Women-owned businesses received 20 per cent of funding against a minimum target of 15 per cent, while youth-owned businesses also received 20 per cent, meeting the bank’s target.
The bank also deployed more than ₦108 billion to infrastructure, including financing for 100 mini-grids to provide electricity to households and businesses, alongside broadband connectivity for more than 700 communities.
Olusi said the bank was positioned to exceed its 2025 impact in 2026 as it scales up implementation of its corporate strategy.
To achieve this, he explained that BOI had organised its operations around 15 priority sectors grouped into five divisions, allowing it to tailor financing to the needs of different segments of the economy.
The bank is also seeking to expand its presence in the information and communications technology sector and the digital economy through the Investment in Digital and Creative Enterprises (iDICE) programme.
“Our mission is simple: finance what Nigeria makes, and create jobs for Nigerians,” Olusi said, urging journalists to report on businesses supported by the bank and hold the institution accountable for its development mandate.
Mobilising long-term capital
A key component of the bank’s strategy is attracting long-term financing from domestic and international sources to address the funding constraints facing Nigerian industries.
Olusi noted that commercial banks alone could not provide the volume of affordable, long-term capital required to support the country’s industrial ambitions.
He disclosed that BOI had secured major funding transactions over the past three years, including a €1.879 billion syndicated facility in 2024, €210 million from international development partners in 2025 and a ₦250 billion development bond in 2026, which was oversubscribed.
The bank also secured €85 million from the European Investment Bank for agriculture and another €50 million for healthcare manufacturing in 2026.
According to Olusi, the transactions collectively represent more than €2.2 billion and ₦250 billion in new funding for Nigerian industry.
He said the level of investor participation reflected confidence in the bank’s governance, financing pipeline and development impact.
Beyond raising capital for industrial development, BOI has also been implementing Federal Government intervention programmes aimed at improving access to finance for businesses across the country.
Olusi said the bank had delivered more than 95 per cent of the Federal Government’s ₦200 billion intervention package, comprising a ₦50 billion Presidential Conditional Grant Scheme, a ₦75 billion MSME Intervention Fund and a ₦75 billion Manufacturing Sector Fund.
The interventions, he said, had reached 957,400 grant beneficiaries, 9,000 MSMEs and 104 large manufacturers.
Rural enterprises, agriculture get attention
The bank’s financing activities have also extended to rural communities, where limited access to electricity and affordable capital often constrains business growth.
Through its Rural Area Programme on Investment for Development (RAPID), BOI disbursed ₦6.5 billion to 880 rural enterprises across the 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory, supporting more than 8,000 jobs.
It also financed 100 mini-grids that connected 11,777 households and businesses to electricity, including communities where some beneficiaries had previously lacked access to power.
In agriculture, the bank disbursed approximately ₦213 billion to agro-allied businesses and linked 47,508 smallholder farmers to processors.
The interventions are expected to strengthen connections between agricultural production and processing, helping businesses add value to locally produced raw materials and supporting efforts to improve food supply chains.
Strategy anchored on inclusive industrialisation
Olusi said the bank’s current strategy was developed around the need to make development financing more accessible to businesses that have traditionally struggled to obtain long-term funding.
He recalled that when he assumed office as managing director and chief executive officer in October 2023, following his appointment by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, he identified four priorities: linking lending to measurable development outcomes, mobilising long-term capital, expanding access to underserved businesses and strengthening governance and risk management.
The priorities subsequently informed BOI’s 2025–2027 Corporate Strategy, which seeks to double its loan book, disbursements and impact instruments within three years.
Under the strategy, the bank has committed at least 15 per cent of its financing to women-owned businesses, 20 per cent of its small and medium-sized enterprise disbursements to youth-owned or youth-run businesses, and 10 per cent of portfolio disbursements to climate and sustainability initiatives.
It has also set aside 15 per cent of disbursements for the digital economy, while dedicating a quarter of its large credits to infrastructure.
The bank adopted a phased implementation plan, with 2025 designated as the foundation year for establishing the necessary governance frameworks, products and digital tools. The focus in 2026 is execution at scale, while 2027 is expected to consolidate results and deliver the strategy’s targets.
Tracing the institution’s history, Olusi said BOI began in 1959 as the Investment Company of Nigeria before becoming the Nigerian Industrial Development Bank in 1964. It was transformed into the present Bank of Industry in 2001 following the merger of three government-backed development finance institutions.
He said the institution’s central mandate remained financing enterprises that would strengthen Nigeria’s industrial capacity and generate employment.
With its new international financing facilities and expanding domestic funding base, BOI is seeking to translate that mandate into greater investment in productive sectors, particularly agriculture, manufacturing and healthcare.
The success of the strategy, however, will ultimately depend on how effectively the financing reaches businesses, expands domestic production and delivers sustainable jobs across the country.